What sport is the rest of the world (other than the USA) watching this year? Not the Super Bowl, not the World Series, not the Sprint Cup, not March Madness... and not even the World Cup (that's next year). The world's attention is focused on a titanic duel in Chennai, India over the next three weeks for the title of World Chess Champion that will commence on Saturday, November 9 (tomorrow!). Not since Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassky has a world championship chess match generated so much drama.
Details beyond the saffron threads.
In the challenger's corner: Magnus Carlsen, the young phenom from Norway who has attained the highest chess rating in history, surpassing Gary Kasparov's previous record. In the champion's corner: Viswanathan ("Vishy") Anand of India, who won the title twice in tournaments and has successfully defended the title in three matches (which included beating Kramnik, the guy who beat Kasparov for the title).
The two contenders are celebrities outside the USA. Anand, perhaps the first figure in India to attain number one level in a global sport (there is of course Tendulkar in cricket, but cricket is played only be a handful of countries), is big news in India. Carlsen is a darling of Norway media and his exploits have been followed since he was a kid.
You can watch the match! Chess was made for the internet. Various venues will stream the games live as well as archive them for later viewing. The online videos will feature chess grandmaster commentators who will explain the strategies. Check here, here, here and here for live coverage, and find a nice guide to viewing the match here.
How to get started enjoying chess? If you are like most of us, your early chess experiences were not pleasant. Maybe you learned the moves from a friend or older sibling, who withheld some of the rules in order to spring them on you at inopportune (for you) moments during your first games. If you persevered and learned the moves (more or less), you still never really "got it," as there was no hint of guidance as to what to do with your pieces in a chess game. Each move was a fearful moment, as you nervously scanned the board to see if the piece you had ventured to a new square was doomed to capture (and usually, it was).
Chess is sort of like tennis in that it takes a little bit of experience for the game to start becoming fun. During one's first few times on a tennis court, the balls you thwock are likely to sail over the fence-- good for baseball, but definitely not desirable in tennis. But then, with some guidance and some practice of tennis strokes in proper form, the game becomes fun to play --and-- exciting to watch.
Chess is like that: Fun to play! With just a little bit of experience, the "fearfulness" part of playing will vanish. You will be comfortable with how the pieces move and will be able to see at a glance which squares are attacked. And once you learn not just the moves, but how to play, what the strategies are, how to catch your opponents with combinations, how to attack and mate the king, how to defuse attacks against your position, you will have a lifelong, addictively engaging pastime.
And exciting to watch! With just your computer, you will have a ringside seat for a thrilling spectator sport.
Steps for getting started in chess:
Search for "chess instruction" in YouTube! You will find zillions of chess instruction videos, from very basic (learning the moves and rules) to very advanced. Use these videos to:
Learn the moves and rules--correctly.
Learn simple tactics (Pins! Forks! Skewers!) and simple checkmates
Learn basic strategies (Get your pieces out! Capture the center of the board!
Castle early! Rooks on open files!)
Learn simple endgames (advantage of just one pawn is often enough to win!)
Watch some games by great players, in which their moves are explained by
expert commentators.
Find some opponents and start playing! If you live near a large town, small city, or university, there might be a chess club. Coffee shops sometimes attract cadres of players. Online opponents can be found at Chess.com and many other websites.
Try some software. Computer chess programs can serve as good sparring partners (especially those with adjustable playing strengths) as well as a source of interactive instruction. An earlier versions of "Fritz," a very strong chess program, is available for free. Contemporary commercial products are loaded with great features and hold their own against grandmasters. There are growing numbers of fine interactive chess programs for kids. Search through the app stores for chess software for your smart phone. You will find many inexpensive or even free apps; read the reviews and try a couple of them (I like "Shredder"). Launching king-side attacks on your phone is a great way to spend time while waiting in a parking lot for your kid's band practice to end.
Get a good chess set. The little plastic set with the red-and-white checkerboard will do for starters, but you will soon want a set that makes playing more fun (and does not cause you to see spots when looking at a light-colored wall). Happily, good sets are cheap! Really! The US Chess Federation sells a tournament-quality chess set for under $30. It has a roll-up vinyl board, with muted green, brown or blue dark squares (I like the green) that have sides measuring a regulation 2.25 inches. Plastic & nearly indestructible pieces, weighted to resist tipping over, complete the set. The USCF basic set is recognizable and in sold widely in many urban game stores and chess websites.
And... bring the family! Kids, siblings, significant other-- why not take on this new thing together as a family activity! Chess is absolutely fabulous for long dark winter evenings.
Complement your chess set with a couple of instructional books. For getting a beginner started in the moves and in visualizing simple tactics and mates, it is hard to beat Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess. For helping a beginner learn some basic strategies, I like Logical Chess Move by Move (by Chernev), a compendium of old master games in which every move is explained. From here, the chess literature is vast and rewarding (but when you are reading, expect many snide comments from onlookers about "playing chess with yourself again??").
You can do much of the above while following the world championship match over the next few weeks.
Enjoying the match
The championship match is a clash of chess styles and player ages.
Carlsen's chess style is cold, slow, and highly effective. Think of a boa constrictor killing its prey by tightening its coils every time the prey exhales. Carlsen makes moves that seem innocuous, as if he is just waiting for his opponent to overstep. As the game progresses, Carlsen accumulates small advantages that coalesce into the slightest of edges that he nurses to victory. His games frequently last sixty or seventy moves, well into the "endgame," where only a few pieces remain on the board. Attacks against his position are brushed off like a Tai Chi master. If this were tennis, he would be "baseline" player, the Chris Evert player, whose opponents always find the ball to be their court. (For an example, look at Carlsen's recent game against Kamsky, a former USA champion)
Anand's chess style is aggressive and filled with risk and complexity. He sacrifices material to attain attacks or positions with long-range initiative. He calculates deeply and excels in complicated positions. Although he is a fine endgame player in his own right, his games frequently end before then, with his opponent's king snared in a mating net. Anand's chess is at times beautiful, rising to the level of art in its creative surprises. Take a look at the game he played against Aronian (the second highest rated player in the world) last January in a tournament. Anand, playing with the black pieces, faced a position on his 16th turn in which three of his pieces were attacked and at risk of capture: a rook, a knight, and a bishop. Anand made a stunning move, putting his other knight on a square where it is attacked by two (!) white pawns... Anand had foreseen that white would meet with disaster if white were to capture any of the four pieces offered. His opponent resigned 7 moves later. Anand is the "serve-and-volley" player, the Billie Jean King player, always seeking the brilliant shot that will put away the point.
Muhammed Ali Carlsen playing "rope-a-dope" against oncoming freight train Joe Fraser Anand?
Age could be an important factor in the match. Carlsen is 22, Anand is 43! Competitive chess at that level is grueling and exhausting. The games can last six hours or more. It is well-documented that chess strength tends to decline with age.
Carlsen is the heavy favorite among chess observers. His advantages: (A) Carlsen is super hot right now. In tournament s during the past couple of years he has cut through all opposition like an X-Acto knife through butter. Anand's recent play by contrast has been inconsistent, with his patent dazzling victories (such as the Aronian game) interspersed by lackadaisical losses. (B) Carlsen is young, in a game that favors youthful endurance. (C) Carlsen's quiet style can be a frustrating foil to aggressive players. Five hours into the staring contest, his opponents tend to get impatient and blink first.
Anand is the underdog, but he is not without his own advantages: (A) Anand is highly experienced and successful in match play, whereas, Carlsen's results are mostly in tournaments. In matches, the same opponent is played in game after game, with each player (helped by their teams of analysts behind the scenes) grinding at their opponent's weaknesses. Anand has tended to be better prepared than his opponents in his championship matches. (B) Anand has the home field advantage. The match will be played in Chennai (formerly Madras), India, the city where Anand grew up! Think: Fenway Park, except with one billion screaming fans.
The match starts tomorrow (Saturday, Nov 9). There will be two games (one Saturday, one Sunday), followed by a rest day, followed by two more games, etc. Twelve regular games in all. If the score (1 point for a win, 1/2 for a draw, 0 for a loss) is tied after twelve games, a series of rapid chess (25 minutes per side) tiebreakers will ensue. Each regular game will commence at 3PM Chennai/India time.
That's ... ...um... ...er ... 4:30AM EST. But some of the sites linked above will post the whole video of each game for replay.
Enjoy! It's your move!